Progress Report: June 2017 - Nevadasagebrusheco.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/sagebrusheconvgov/content... · Progress Report: June 2017 Sagebrush Ecosystem Council ... Letter from the Chairman

Sagebrush Ecosystem Program

Progress Report: June 2017

Sagebrush Ecosystem Council

State of Nevada 201 South Roop Street, Suite 101 Carson City, Nevada 89701-5247

The Sagebrush Ecosystem Council’s mission is to maintain and restore a functional and resilient sagebrush ecosystem to benefit all species while allowing for various land

uses. This will be accomplished by working through a diverse coalition

of public and private stakeholders.

sagebrusheco.nv.gov

1 | Sagebrush Ecosystem Council

Table of Contents

Letter from the Chairman .................................. 3

Organizational Highlights........................................... 4

Conservation Credit System Progress ......................... 7

Sagebrush Ecosystem Council .................................... 9

Sagebrush Ecosystem Technical Team .......................10

Nevada Sagebrush Ecosystem Council

BRIAN SANDOVAL Governor

State of Nevada

J. J. GOICOECHEA Chairman

Sagebrush Ecosystem Council

NRS 232.162 § 8—On or before June 30 and December 31 of each year, the Council shall submit a written

report to the Governor.

sagebrusheco.nv.gov

KELLY MCGOWAN Program Manager

Sagebrush Ecosystem Program 201 South Roop Street, Suite 101 Carson City, Nevada 89701-5247

775.684.8600

Progress Report: June 2017 | 2

STATE OF NEVADA

Sagebrush Ecosystem Program

Dear Governor Sandoval:

Over the past six months the SEC has taken significant actions related to the SETT’s recommendations to improve the current Conservation Credit System (CCS). Our annual process of reviewing and adopting adaptive management while implementing the CCS came to fruition during this six month period. The SEC approved 14 improvements. These recommendations for improvement were thoroughly vetted by staff from State agencies, Federal agencies, and faculty from the University of Nevada, Reno and ultimately were developed into recommendations by the SETT. The actions by the SEC to adopt these improvements will reduce user costs, increase efficiencies, and also resulted in improved and scientifically justifiable methods of applying the Habitat Quantification Tool (HQT). The HQT is the primary tool for assessing habitat values (credits and debits). With these improvements, we are confident that Nevada has one of the most scientifically sound habitat exchange programs in the nation. We also believe these improvements may provide greater confidence in its users and continue to protect Nevada’s sagebrush ecosystem.

The SEC also approved funding to five private landowners to conduct conservation practices on their land that will enhance and protect Greater Sage-grouse habitats and will eventually lead to credit generation and the sale of credits to those needing to offset anthropogenic disturbances. This was the second round of funding that the SEC approved, following the first funding round in 2016. When credits are sold from these projects they will encompass nearly 30,000 acres of private land and generate over 15,000 credits. A summary page of the State sponsored credit projects is included in this report, as well as some of the organizational highlights of the SEP.

We appreciate your continued support and leadership as we develop and refine the tools needed that will allow for the responsible multiple uses of Nevada’s natural resources while ensuring that impacts are adequately offset through the use of the CCS.

Sincerely,

J.J. Goicoechea, Chairman Sagebrush Ecosystem Council

Sagebrush Ecosystem Program 201 South Roop Street, Suite 101 Carson City, Nevada 89701 Telephone (775) 684-8600 Facsimile (775) 684-8604 www.sagebrusheco.nv.gov

Kelly McGowan, Program Manager Katie Andrle, Wildlife Sara McBee, State Lands Dan Huser, Forestry/Wildland Fire Agriculture, Vacant

BRIAN SANDOVAL Governor


Organizational Highlights

Instrumental SEC Decisions January 2017 – June 2017

2017, January Letters of Interest (LOI) proposing potential credit projects were submitted to the SEC for the 2017 Credit Project Solicitation. The LOIs and the projects proposed within were carefully reviewed by the SETT, who presented the information to the SEC at the January SEC meeting for their review and guidance on moving forward.

The SETT submitted the 2nd iteration of the 2017 Improvements and Recommendations Report draft and presented on the proposed changes at the January SEC meeting, where the SEC voted to adopt all but three recommendations. The SEC requested further information or elaboration on the other recommendations. .

2017, March Six projects proposed within LOIs from the 2017 Credit Project Solicitation were recommended by the SETT to be further developed and submitted as full proposals. The SEC approved the staff recommendations, and selected applicants were informed of the need to develop full proposals.

The SETT again presented to the SEC on the remaining 2017 Improvements and Recommendations Report that the SEC instructed staff to further develop. Some of the remaining improvements were passed, and additional information was requested on a potential improvement.

2017, April The SEC reviewed full proposals from the 2017 Credit Project Solicitation effort, estimated pre-project credit yields, and approved five projects for State seed grant funding.

The remaining 2017 Improvements and Recommendations were approved by the SEC and the report was finalized thereafter.

2017, June The SEC….

Major SETT Activities January 2017 – June 2017

2017, January Program Manager, Kelly McGowan met with AboveNV to discuss opportunities to use drone technology to enhance field data collection methods and reduce the costs associated with conventional techniques.

The SETT held a meeting with the Technical Review Group to utilize scientific expertise to direct potential program improvements.

2017, February The SETT met with Verifiers to discuss potential improvements for CCS data collection efforts and continued to develop and finalize the 2017 Improvements and Recommendation Report, making revisions and adding more improvements (changing the shape of our scoring curves and using seasonal HSIs instead of a single annual HSI).


The SETT coordinated an internal State agencies meeting to discuss our

approach with Federal agencies on the process for credit development on public lands.

The SETT met with Kinross Mines to discuss Financial Assurances in preparation for their completion for their project.

The SETT met with the TRG to discuss improvements to habitat sampling design, map unit delineation and transect generation that will be developed and implemented throughout the year.

The SETT attended and presented (specifically NDOW representative Katie Andrle) on the Conservation Credit System at the Greater Sage-Grouse Symposium held by the Western Section of the Wildlife Society.

SETT member Dan Huser (NDF representative) of the SETT also attended a three-day Great Basin Consortium Conference at UNR.

2017, March The SETT had initial and follow-up meetings with the BLM and an initial meeting with the USFS focused on developing credits on public lands.

SETT member Sara McBee (Representative NDSL) participated in an NDF grant review process and attended a meeting for the Nevada Collaborative Conservation Network (NCCN) outreach and communication working group. SETT member Dan Huser gave a four-hour presentation on the CCS to NDF Staff.

SETT member Katie Andrle (NDOW representative) participated in a three day interagency Habitat Division Coordination Workshop to assist NDOW’s Habitat Division in developing a Strategic Habitat Framework and geospatial tool for project planning. Katie Andrle gave a presentation to a 6th grade science class at Sepulveda Elementary School on March 20th teaching students about sage-grouse biology and had students participate in habitat sampling techniques.

2017, April The SETT held a one-day refresher and two-day full training for Verifiers to maintain or receive certification to conduct the GIS desktop analysis, field data collection, and Habitat Quantification Tool (HQT) process for the CCS program.

The SETT developed the newest versions of the CCS Manual, CCS Scientific Methods document, and CCS User’s Guide. These were posted, along with all appropriate forms and instructions for their use and submission, on the CCS ftp site, where they could be accessed by Verifier’s working on this year’s credit and debit projects.

The SETT discussed expectations for and finalized the Management Plan template, the Annual Management and Monitoring Report template, and Verifier Conflict of Interest form.


Dan Huser attended a week-long Sagebrush Restoration Course held by the BLM in Reno. Sara McBee attended the second meeting for the Nevada Collaborative Conservation Network (NCCN) outreach and communication working group on April 28th.

Kelly McGowan participated in discussions with Barrick, BLM, TNC, USFWS, and NDOW on implementation of the TNC model for mitigation within the Bank Enabling Agreement.

2017, May The SETT conducted field visits to the Crawford and RDD Ranches, which were selected from the 2017 Credit Project Solicitation. SETT discussed formal agreements and the habitat quantification efforts to take place in the near term.

The SETT finalized Johns Ranch credit project management plan, making 164 credits available for sale on May 9th.

The SETT met with BLM on May 11th to finalize our vision for public land credit projects and prepare for the upcoming meeting with BLM, USFS, USFWS, and NRCS.

The SETT met with Executive Director of the Nevada Rural Electric Association to discuss potential for powerline minimization measures within the CCS.

The SETT completed the automated tool to conduct the GIS Desktop Analysis portion of the HQT; the tools were uploaded to the ftp site for use by CCS Verifiers on Credit and Debit projects.

Katie Andrle presented to the Lahontan Audubon Society (LAS) on May 23rd discussing sage-grouse biology, research, and an overview of the CCS.

Kelly McGowan attended a tour of Newmont’s sagebrush ecosystem potential credit development and mitigation sites with other agency personnel in Elko County.

2017, June SETT toured Eureka Land and Livestock’s State funded credit project to offer guidance on habitat improvements and to discuss the process for selecting verifiers and review the funding agreement.

Kelly McGowan attended a tour of the Kinross Gold’s Bald Mountain Mine expansion site. Kinross is also a participant in the CCS and intends to use their own private land holdings to offset their mine expansion.

SETT staff met with private land credit developers from the Cottonwood Ranch, Johns Ranch, Boies Ranch, Heguy Ranch, and Earthton to work with landowners to maximize credit production, sign agreements, and offer suggestions or recommendations and to become more familiar with the project sites.

SETT met with BLM and USFS to continue discussions and work through the details that might allow credit development on public land.


Conservation Credit System Progress The first half of 2017 has brought about significant changes to the SEP. Along with nearly all new staff becoming a more settled into their respective positions on the SETT, extensive improvements were being developed and evaluated for implementation into the CCS. Fourteen improvements were developed by the SETT and considered by the SEC. These improvements ranged Minor to Major in significance. The SEC carefully considered each improvement, offered guidance, and asked the SETT to reevaluate several improvements and bring it back to them for consideration. In the end, all 14 improvements were approved by the SEC.

While this process was necessary, it did set back the anticipated timeline of the release of credits from the State sponsored credit projects as participants awaited the outcomes of the improvements and how they might affect their credit projects. However, once the improvements that affected the HQT results were adopted the SETT was well positioned to quickly process the four projects sponsored in 2016 and has been able to begin to process the 2017 sponsored projects. To date, we officially have 164 credits available in the bank with several other projects within weeks of having their credits available. In total, we anticipate over 5,000 credits being available for sale or transfer by mid-July.

SETT is currently working closely with the 2017 State sponsored credit developers to schedule field data collection, desktop analysis, Agreement finalization (to recover State funds once credits are sold to allow for a revolving fund account for the program), and completion of their Management Plans. We anticipate that these credits may become available in the fall of 2017, but more likely in the late winter of 2018. Between both funding rounds, we anticipate that over 15,000 credits will be available to offset significant anthropogenic disturbances.

SETT conducted refresher training for our certified verifiers (required to maintain certification) who were first certified in March of 2016. We also conducted two-day training for professionals with the credentials to become certified verifiers in April 2017. We now have over 40 CCS certified verifiers available for our potential clients to use.

SETT continues to work towards the ability to implement the CCS on public lands to generate credits. Long term success of the CCS is likely dependent on the ability to develop credit projects on public lands. However, implementing this concept is fraught with challenges, but all parties are confident that in can be done. We are working towards developing ‘pilot’ projects with both the BLM and the USFS. Given the percentage of private land ownership in Nevada, it is no surprise to anyone that accomplishing this is critical to the long term success of a habitat exchange program in the state of Nevada.

Implementing a complex and new system like the CCS has significant challenges and we continue to make significant strides in making it a reality and leading the Western U.S. in the development of a habitat exchange program to benefit Greater Sage-grouse. We anticipate that once a few exchanges occur within the CCS that some of the anxiety that may have been felt by both credit developers and credit buyers will begin to wane. In order for this to occur, we will continue to need the support of our federal partners and others that encourage the use of the CCS when conducting mitigation. We will continue to instill confidence in the CCS through our adaptive management processes, our transparent actions, and our continued outreach to both the public and private sectors likely to be involved or associated with mitigation projects.

We are also involved in administering a Regional Conservation Partners Program through the NRCS-USDA in partnership with organizations in Colorado. This has the potential to infuse another $1.6


million in sagebrush ecosystem conservation efforts to benefit Greater Sage-grouse. We anticipate up to $400,000 to be invested in Nevada in calendar year 2017. We are hopeful that this will develop into a long term relationship and provide future funding beyond 2018.

It would be our pleasure to submit in our next semi-annual report a host of transactions within the Nevada CCS. With continued hard work and dedication by those associated with the SEP and our private and public partners, it will become a reality.

CCS CREDIT PROJECT STATUS


ID Name Type CountyWAFWA

MZ

Current Credits

(for sale)Availability

Status (PRE-FIELD, FIELD, POST FIELD, QA EI,

QA SETT, FINAL)

Notes

2016-01 TumblingJR CreditElko White

Pine3 4268 Not Available* Finalizing Nearing completion on management plan.

2016-02 Coleman Credit Washoe 5 336 Available Finalizing Nearing completion on management plan. 2016-03 Cottonwood Credit Elko 3 711 Available Finalizing Nearing completion on management plan. 2016-04 Johns Ranch Credit Elko 4 164 Available Finalizing Management Plan Completed.

2017-01 Crawford Cattle CreditHumboldt

Elko3 and 4 4838

Est. Ready by March 2018

Pre-FieldData Collection, Management Plans, Funding

Agreements in initial process

2017-02 Earthton Coogan Credit Elko 3 395Est. Ready by March 2018



2017-03 Eureka Livestock Credit Eureka 4 1956Est. Ready by March 2018



2017-04 Heguy Ranch Credit Elko 3 1708Est. Ready by March 2018



2017-05 RDD Inc. Credit Humboldt 5 1011Est. Ready by March 2018


Agreements in initial processTotal 15387

* These credits are not available for sale. Currently authorized for use to offset an existing mine expansion.

We expect that all 2016 state funded credit projects will have their existing credits available for sale starting in Summer 2017.

We have become more proficient in going through the process this year and credits from the 2017 State funded credit projects will be availablepotentially as early as October/November 2017 (at least the credits currently available), but will more likely be available by March 2018. We envision that enhancements with all projects will make additional credits available over the next 5-10 years.

2016 State Funded Conservation/Credit Projects

2017 State Funded Conservation/Credit Projects (Credit totals are "Estimated")

Sagebrush Ecosystem Council J.J. Goicoechea, Chair Local Government Representative Chris MacKenzie, Vice-Chair Board of Wildlife Representative Allen Biaggi Mining Representative Steve Boies Ranching Representative Gerry Emm Tribal Nations Representative Starla Lacy Energy Representative Bevan Lister Agriculture Representative Tina Nappe Conservation and Environmental Representative Dr. Sherman Swanson General Public

Ex-Officio Members Jim Barbee Director, Nevada Department of Agriculture Ray Dotson State Conservationist, USDA-NRCS Bill Dunkelberger Humboldt-Toiyabe Forest Supervisor, U.S. Forest Service Jim Lawrence Deputy Director, Nevada Department of Conservation & Natural Resources John Ruhs State Director, Bureau of Land Management Carolyn Swed Interim State Supervisor, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Tony Wasley Director, Nevada Department of Wildlife


Sagebrush Ecosystem Technical Team

Kelly McGowan—Program Manager Technical Team Katie Andrle- Wildlife Technical Team Dan Huser—Forestry/Wildland Fire Technical Team Sara McBee—State Lands Technical Team Currently Vacant—Agriculture Technical Team


The list of acronyms below contains many of the terms used by the Sagebrush Ecosystem Council and the Sagebrush Ecosystem Technical Team in describing its activities.

Acronym Term BLM U.S. Bureau of Land Management BLM ADEIS BLM Administrative Draft Environmental Impact Statement (provided to CAs) BLM DEIS BLM Draft Environmental Impact Statement BLM EIS BLM Environmental Impact Statement BLM SRMP BLM Sub-Regional Management Plan CA Cooperating Agency CCS Nevada Conservation Credit System CDP Conservation District Program DCNR Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources ESA Endangered Species Act GIS Geographic Information System GRSG Greater Sage-grouse GSGAC Governor’s Sage-grouse Advisory Committee HSM Habitat Suitability Modeling HQT Habitat Quantification Tool LAWG Local Area Working Groups LUPA Greater Sage-grouse Land Use Plan Amendment MOU Memorandum of Understanding NDA Nevada Department of Agriculture NDF Nevada Division of Forestry NDOT Nevada Department of Transportation NDOW Nevada Department of Wildlife NDSL Nevada Division of State Lands NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NRCS Natural Resources Conservation Service SEC Sagebrush Ecosystem Council SEP Sagebrush Ecosystem Program SETT Sagebrush Ecosystem Technical Team SGMA Sage-grouse Management Areas SWG Science Work Group TRG Technical Review Group USFS U.S. Forest Service USFWS U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service USGS U.S. Geological Survey


Sagebrush Ecosystem Council State of Nevada

201 South Roop Street, Suite 101 Carson City, Nevada 89701-5247

775.684.8600 http://sagebrusheco.nv.gov/


Documents

Progress Report: June 2017 - Nevadasagebrusheco.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/sagebrusheconvgov/content... · Progress Report: June 2017 Sagebrush Ecosystem Council ... Letter from the Chairman